Arizona hires Kevin Sumlin

After a deal could not be reached with Ken Niumatalolo, Arizona moved on and moved on quickly.

The Wildcats on Sunday hired Kevin Sumlin as their next head coach

“This is a tremendous day for Arizona Football and I am thrilled to welcome Kevin to our family,” said Arizona AD Heeke. “He is a proven winner who will have an immediate impact on not only our football program, but also on our department and University. An accomplished coach and an excellent recruiter, Kevin shares our vision and values and fits with who we are and who we want to be. His commitment to academics and to community service are a testament to his character. I have no doubt that Kevin will bring an exciting brand of football to Tucson and that championships will follow.”

Said Sumlin himself: “I am humbled and honored to join the Arizona Family. With a strong foundation already in place, we will work quickly to assemble an elite coaching staff and immediately begin the work of establishing our culture, recruiting future Wildcats, and connecting with Wildcats past and present. We will win championships. We will graduate our players and they will contribute to the University in many ways while they are here. We will represent Arizona with class and pride. I want to thank President Robbins and Dave Heeke for the opportunity to be a part of something special and I cannot wait to get started.”

Sumlin went 51-26 in six seasons at Texas A&M and 35-17 in four seasons before that at Houston. He had tremendous success recruiting Arizona while at Texas A&M, pulling in 5-star quarterback and 5-star wide receiver Christian Kirk.

SOURCE: New #Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin will retain DC Marcel Yates (they worked together at A&M) as Cats defensive coordinator. Noel Mazzone is expected to be the new OC. RBs coach Clarence McKinney also is expected to join staff.

National columnist - Zach joined the staff in 2012...and has been attempting to improve Doug and Scott's writing ability ever since (to little avail). Outside of football season, you can find him watching the San Antonio Spurs reading Game of Thrones fan theories.